I can't wait!

I accidentally discovered a game site on the internet one day back in the year 2000. I was at work (yeah, I said I was at work) at the travel agency and it was a day when there were only two people in the office, and the other person was leaving early. PC's were brand new to the office, for only reservation-specific types of computers were standard norm up until that point, so I wanted to play, discover, and explore the wonders of a new, state-of-the-art computer. So, almost as quickly as the other person left, I had closed the Amadeus Reservation System window and logged onto the world wide web!

I don't remember how or why I found Pogo, but I did. And I was playing Keno like it was going out of style. I was so hooked on it already by the end of that "thank goodness" slow afternoon, that I HAD TO play it as often as possible. From that day in the fall of 2000 onward, I would stay at the office after hours on the days Edie worked late...I'd lock the door, turn off the lights, and sit at the computer and play Keno (and a few other games here and there).

Pogo games have chatrooms in them, so I watched the chat...I wasn't going to chat, I was way too shy! Within a few weeks, though, I took a stab at it and said my first hello. I felt good when some people said "hello" and "welcome" back to me. Then, when I had a good game, I was thrilled when total strangers congratulated me. I just HAD TO say thank you. I got to know some "regulars" in that Keno game room because I had become a "regular" myself. I got to know some of them really darn good, too, and one person in particular quickly became quite a good friend. We often went to other games to play them together while we chatted away about all sorts of things. Over the years, we have become the best of friends.

Our friendship is such that we not only still see each other in Pogo, but we email each other, call each other on the phone, exchange Christmas cards and gifts, have sent other gifts to each other, and have actually done favors for each other...like her burning CDs for me and me doing some word processing for her. Yet, we have never met each other face to face. (Back in 2001, I introduced my best friend Debbie to Pogo...and then went on to introduce her to my internet friend, Clara. They got to be friends, too. Debbie actually met Clara when she was attending a wedding near her hometown, but I still have not been able to meet her. Earlier plans for to meet halfway or for Edie and I to go visit never worked out.)

Well, guess who is in town? Clara and her husband arrived in RI last night and are staying right over the bridge in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island! We will be hanging out together for the next two-and-a-half days! We can not believe that we are finally going to get to meet each other after waiting almost 8 years!

I am sooooooooo excited and I am already anticipating all the smiles, hugs, happiness, and thrill when we see each other for the first time! I have taken the two days off from work just so I can enjoy being with my new old friend! Of course, there's plenty of room for including her husband, Edie, and my friend Debbie and her husband in on some of this fun, too, so the next couple of days should be awesome!

I know I'm not going to want Clara to leave on Saturday, but I don't have any jobs this Saturday so I can join them for breakfast (or lunch) before they head for home in New Jersey. Oh, this is going to be soooooo wonderful!